Felicity
by Shangri-La
Summary: Legato returns to Knives three years after he has come to live with Vash. However, he has changed and demands that Knives gives him what he wants. His life. Only one chapter left!!
1. Servant Reversed

Disclaimer: Don't own Trigun. Nope. Nuh-uh.  
  
PLEASE REVIEW!!!  
  
  
  
  
  
The moons had now risen into the dark skies of Gunsmoke, and Knives, who lay stretched out on his back in his bed, arms folded behind his head, stared listlessly at them. Three very long years - that was the period of time he had spent with his brother and Meryl, now Vash's wife. No longer was he sadistic and bent on the destruction of the human race - no, genocide was a dream that had flown far, far away, something he had lost all passion for - but that didn't mean he was the picture of contentment either. In fact, he was a rather depressed individual who seemed to have developed almost a fear of humans, refusing to step foot inside the nearest town.  
  
It was times like these that things came to mind. How could Vash have defeated him? His brother was weak...and he was strong, wasn't he? Furthermore, what had happened to him? Why did he put himself through all the trouble of trying to conform to his brother's idea of life? It'd be easier just to quit and go live alone. Rectifying his cause of creating an Eden was impossible, and he realized it - he wasn't stupid after all, and somehow...humans just didn't disgust him as much. Bothered him, yes, disgusted him, no. Perhaps his niece had something to do with that.  
  
His ice blue eyes widened slightly as a slim shadow darted past his window, blocking out the moonlight flowing over his bed. Now very alert, he sat up and stared at the serene desert just outside his room, illuminated beneath the stars, and then gasped in complete shock as the large glass doors leading to a small balcony swung silently open without any assistance from a human hand.  
  
How can that be...?  
  
A figure grew in the darkness, materializing in the shadows, and as it drew nearer, he saw a tall, broad-shouldered man of lean muscle and underlying, untold power transforming, golden eyes burning with all the intensity of the sun. There was that familiar, black turtleneck, the gray jeans, but a something new. A crimson duster that touched the floor, scarlet and so reminding of the blood he had once shed all in his name. Knives half expected a low, silky-smooth voice to whisper in his mind, "Mastah..."  
  
That didn't happen.  
  
"Legato," murmured Knives, eyeing his servant, taken for dead, standing there rigidly, face completely impassive. "Vash killed you."  
  
"No."  
  
Knives didn't know what to say next. Should he tell him the genocide thing was a no-go? Even so, this complicated things immensely. But it could work out. Legato shared his feelings about humans, even if he was one, and Knives had taken quite some time adjusting to the fact that nobody obeyed his commands or served him on hand and foot anymore.  
  
A smile twitched at the corner's of Knive's lips, one that Legato recognized as a facial cast expressing pleasure, like he was going to get what he wanted. The blue-haired man scowled at the arrogance. He had been his servant once - that time had passed.  
  
"Why did you come here?" From the tone of the plant's voice, he was expecting an exulting, satisfying answer.  
  
Legato started forward in calm, steady steps, speaking in a soft voice as he breathed, "Things are different now, Knives... Did you really think I'd bleed my life away for you after how you've changed - after how I have changed?" He smirked, almost frightening his former master. "I am powerful. And you never let me believe that. I need something. And you are going to give it to me."  
  
Knives stood his ground, shaking his head in slight amusement and disbelief. Seems his slave needed a little discipline. Rapidly, his mind invaded Legato's, but he encountered shunt after shunt set up in defense. Desperately he tried to break them, but they just kept rebuilding endlessly, and before he could wear himself out, he resorted to a physical attack.  
  
Legato jerked ever so slightly, but resisted the pressure on his body, realizing Knives was trying to seize control of it, as he knew he would, and he was ready. He reached out, anger intensified, and showed the plant just how much he had developed, and what else he had learned. In grim fascination he saw horror paint Knives' face, saw the man try to fight what was happening, and saw his eyes widen in surprise when Legato extended his hand - his left hand - towards him, radiating even more power.  
  
Knives tried to utter a strangled cry, but his throat was constricted, and, eyebrows twitching wildly, mouth straining to open and let forth a sound, any sound at all, he fell back onto his bed and felt the mental bonds hold him there. And then Legato was leaning over him, smiling, triumphant.  
  
"I'm not a slave anymore," he declared, and took away Knives' consciousness.  
  
~~~~~  
  
When Knives came to, he was sitting on the cold, marble floor of a very large, very dusty room, his back to a cold wall. Before him was a long table, at which a young, blond man sat, regarding him quietly with green eyes, and hanging from the high ceiling above him, a crystal chandelier alight with what seemed to be a hundred candles.  
  
He wasn't tied, just confused, and as he stretched out his limbs and tried to rise to his feet, he heard approaching footsteps, turning his head to see Legato approaching casually. When he glanced back to see the blonde man at the table, he had disappeared.  
  
"I brought you here for a reason." Legato offered his hand to Knives, but withdrew it once he saw the other man didn't appreciate his help.  
  
Knives threw all his mental attack power at Legato, but it bounced off harmlessly, thoroughly exhausting him.  
  
"You haven't learned yet?" Legato shook his head sadly.  
  
More footsteps, lighter this time. Knives saw a young woman, slender and tall, her skin deathly pale, the color of her snowy turtleneck, and her hair long, silky, falling in spiral curls, raven colored as were her jeans. Emerald eyes sparkled at him in remorse, full lips frowning. She turned away from quickly, as if she couldn't stand the sight of him, and raised herself up slightly to touch her lips to Legato's.  
  
He tilted his head receptively, and then ended the kiss gently, turning to face Knives. "Meet Felicity. My wife."  
  
~~~~~  
  
So.give me your thoughts. Any suggestions are appreciated as well. Umm.next chapter, more Legato, more Knives, more explaining, and a little...Midvalley?! We'll see... 


	2. Is it real?

Can someone please review a very desperate girl's story?? Just out of the goodness of your heart.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"You have to be joking," said Knives dully.  
  
Legato shook his head, golden eyes glimmering. "Her name is Felicity. Before I ever knew you, we were wed, at a very young age, and then I was led to believe that she had died at the hands of some men who had attacked her on the street. That's when I began to hate humanity - and when you found me. I was seventeen."  
  
Knives snorted.  
  
Felicity raised an eyebrow.  
  
Legato, in his melodious voice, continued on. "Let me show you this world I have found. It lies beneath the earth's surface, beneath a cold and desolate wasteland, and it is my Eden. Just as you sought yours, I have found mine."  
  
"Why did you bring me here? Is there something you think we need to finish, because I feel that we are quite done with one another. I used you to the limit, and you are utterly worthless now. Pathetic." Knives was still playing to be superior, despite the show of strength Legato had just put on.  
  
"We have many things to discuss. The first is what I am going to do to you. Come." Legato beckoned with his hand, seeing with extreme agitation that Knives balked at the invitation. "I wasn't asking you. I was telling you."  
  
"And I'm refusing. I don't take orders from humans - especially slaves."  
  
Felicity placed a restraining hand on Legato's shoulder, feeling him tense, and then turned to face the stubborn plant. Saying nothing, she locked gazes with him imploringly, and her eyes said something...somehow... Follow. Please. Paradise.  
  
Paradise?  
  
Knives walked past Legato, purposely brushing shoulders with him and successfully knocking him off balance. Pleased with his small triumph, he sauntered on towards the main door and then pushed it open, instantly squinting in regret when a bright light momentarily blinded his eyes.  
  
Stepping out into a sandy beach, Legato slipped on a pair of shades and looked around with a sad smile, admiring the swaying palm trees, the blue sky, the ocean on the horizon. The air smelled wonderfully salty. Knowing that Knives would tag along out of pure curiosity, he moved smoothly on towards the water, walking with such ease that he almost glided. "See what I have accomplished?" he questioned, seeing with a grin that Knives was trying very hard to hide that he was impressed.  
  
"Enough. Why did you bring me here? Did you want for my approval? Did you actually think I'd be proud?" He laughed coarsely.  
  
"I brought you here for your life."  
  
"Hmm." That didn't concern Knives too much. Legato Bluesummers was only human, after all.  
  
They paused in their journey to see a most strange sight, one that caused Knives to pale quite suddenly. Lying stretched out on a beach towel, clad in a pair of blue swim trunks and with sunglasses shading his closed eyes, Midvalley was languidly sunbathing, not paying the pair any attention except for his obvious eavesdropping.  
  
"Hornfreak?" whispered Knives edgily. "You're.dead."  
  
"Hmm?" Midvalley slid the sunglasses down on the bridge of his nose, narrowing his eyes. "Knives? Oh. I'm not dead." Matter-of- factly, he put the glasses back on and went back to tanning.  
  
Knives glanced about and saw that a familiar object was not by Midvalley's side. "Where is your saxophone?"  
  
"What saxaphone?"  
  
"Sophie.Stephanie. Something like that. It was your most prized possession...?"  
  
Midvalley looked questioningly at Legato and then a look of recognition passed over his features. "Oh.Sylvia. Umm.here." He touched a gleaming saxophone that Knives could've sworn had not been there a few moments ago.  
  
That was strange.  
  
"You want to know what's going on?" said Legato, and Knives' got the feeling he was taunting him.  
  
"I have from the beginning."  
  
"You are here to return the favor that I did for you three years ago."  
  
"And that means.?"  
  
"Gosh, Knives, get a clue. He wants your life energy to give to Felicity so she can get back to normal. She's barely here as it is." Midvalley smiled. "I can't say I'll be sorry to see you go."  
  
"You." seethed Knives, vision flickering, so intense was his anger. "I made you everything you ever wanted to be..."  
  
"No! You made me be everything you ever wanted me to be!" Legato cried out, for the first time speaking with passion, with fury, his voice rising about a soft tone. "No more! No more, Knives!" He swept out a hand before him, eyes lusting for revenge. "I said something to your brother right before he shot me, and I'll say it again.... This is the climax, Knives..."  
  
Knives took the opportunity of Legato being distracted by anger and threw everything that he had at him, throwing him completely off his feet and causing his back to arch up as his body involuntarily began to twist and strain. But Legato was fighting him, and brilliantly at that, so he did something he never thought he'd ever resort to. He fled. He ran, hard and fast, blind and panicked, his mind rapidly working. What the heck was going on?! None of this made any sense!  
  
He passed by the blonde man who had been sitting at the table when he had awoken, but the man said nothing. What was up with this guy? Giving him little thought, he dashed into the musty palace, only to find it was now spotless, that the chandelier was a bit lower, and adorned with diamonds, while the tapestries depicted different pictures. No time to think about that. If only he could get to the source of all this, he could finally make it all stop and put Legato in his place!  
  
There was a room that he found after minimal exploring, having found a forest, a field of snow, and even a circus, behind previous doors, but this place was quite different. It was completely plain and held only a metal chair, a pair of thin, black glasses attached to the arm on a length of chain. Intrigued, he began to inspect the chair, wondering what the secret was to it. After a while, he sat in it, waited a second or two, and then slipped on the glasses, frowning in disappointment when nothing happened. He rose again, and, convinced there was a meaning behind the shades, he broke the chain - very easily - and tucked them away in his pocket. Now, to find Legato and see if the glasses really did mean anything.  
  
There was no need to go very far. Legato and Felicity burst in within a moment's notice, and Knives, smiling evilly in what was a bluff, pulled out the glasses, displaying them for Legato to see. Sure enough, Legato stopped in surprise.  
  
"Are they important?" Knives cradled the fragile item in his palm, making a sure of putting them on and looking upon the couple. Nothing was changed. No, wait... Legato was there, but Felicity wasn't. He slipped them down, saw the woman, and then pushed them back up there. Now he saw her, now he didn't. Quickly, he accessed the human's mind and gleaned minimal information. Pushing past, he meandered out into the hall and looked around. There was no gold, no riches - just crude brick. "I see now."  
  
Legato was very pale. Not because he was scared, but because he was finally having to admit the truth to himself.  
  
"This isn't your Eden. This is your dream world. Nothing here is real." Knives pointed a finger to Felicity, whose emotions were of pure despair. "Including her."  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Ok, can someone please give me a review?? I'm beginning to feel rejected. LOL Anyhow, for our summary of the next chapter...  
  
Legato tells how his dream world came to be and Knives destroys it, trapping them in just a prism of nothingness. Now they have to work together to separate what is real and what is not. And Felecity...well, she gets a better part. 


	3. All I ever wanted

"Knives! Knives!" Legato's desperate cries rang out through the hall as the plant stalked away with former servant in tow, crunching the fragile glasses in his fist and then dropping them to the floor with a tinkling of broken glass, smirking as Legato cried out. Pausing to see his distress, he now realized that the glasses had rebuilt themselves, this time into a mirror. He snatched this too from Legato's hand. "Let's see how strong you are when your 'Eden' crashes down around you, just like mine."  
  
Felicity was absent now, which wasn't surprising anymore. Instead, lingering in a doorway nearby, was Midvalley, dressed now in a casual black suit. Sylvia was leaning against the wall - what? Did this thing have legs or something?  
  
Knives angled the mirror to try to catch a glimpse of Midvalley in it and failed, realizing that he, too, was just an illusion. But an illusion you could touch? That was something different. Something Knives could use...  
  
With Legato following after, crying like a stupid child, begging him to stop, he ran up and down the halls, trying all the doors, grunting each time he didn't find what he was looking for, even though he wasn't quite sure what that was. Finally, at long last, he turned to Legato and threateningly poked him in the chest, hard enough for him to cringe. "Show me the heart of this place. What generates all these things?"  
  
Legato blinked now very dull, golden eyes, mouth gaping slightly. Something told him he had just lost all power, that he had reverted back to the way he had been three years ago...and that he was going to do whatever Knives told him.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Midvalley kept along with them eerily, and although Knives never really saw him walking or talking, just standing there from time to time, the Italian man was going through different motions each time. Once he was drinking some sort of soft drink from a straw. Another time he was yawning. Once he even played a few notes on Sylvia and then balked and cried out because someone had destroyed his 'la'.  
  
Legato stopped at a door, the only one that was wooden and plain to the naked eye, and paused, letting out a gentle sigh. Then, looking up at Knives, he murmured, "Please don't be hasty..." and swung it open.  
  
Knives found the room disgustingly plain until his eyes fell upon the mirror, and, surprise surprise, it was highly impressive, adorned with crystal and diamonds, the walls silver inlaid with rubies and the floor of pure gold. A steel chair, much like the last, at the back of the room, became a throne. And standing at the arm was that infuriatingly silent blonde man, the one with blue eyes, the one that never spoke. Tall and thin, his white robes seemed to glow almost, and with his long face tilted, curiously large blue eyes alight, he barely looked human. So....ethereal...  
  
"So, how does this thing work?" Knives was near determined to tear down the place with his bare hands. He hated being weak.  
  
The blonde man responded immediately. "Welcome to Fairlight. This is the land of dreams with no beginning and no end - make of it what you want. There is no truth here. Do you want to be strong? I can make you strong. Do you want someone to love you?" He smiled. "I'll bring someone to you. It may not be real, but if you believe, it can be better than reality. What do you wish for?"  
  
Knives assumed he was being spoken to. "I want to know what you do to stop all this."  
  
The blonde man looked confused, flickering out of existence for just a moment. "Welcome to Fairlight. This is the land of dreams with no beginning and no end - make of it what you want. There is no -"  
  
Knives sighed in exasperation, preferring not to listen anymore. This was obviously some sort of computer system, highly advanced yet inferior. Walking over to the blonde man, he took his chin in hand, raising his eyebrows when warm flesh met his fingertips. It wasn't a hologram. Surprised, he turned the still talking face from side to side, circled him a few times, and then stopped before him. Muttering, he began to pat himself down, wondering if Legato had gone to the trouble of searching him before he had awaken. Jubilant, he drew a dagger from his sleeve. Knives' number one rule - never go without a weapon no matter how great you are.  
  
Legato turned his head away sadly as he saw Knives raise the knife, and flinched and shut his eyes when he heard the sound of that cold metal sliding through skin. The blonde man was silent save a few gasps and his dying words. "Do you....want someone....to love you...? I can...bring you..."  
  
Midvalley raised his eyebrows and elbowed Legato. "Hey, what's going on?"  
  
The blue-haired man looked back to see Knives' victim lying motionless on the floor - no blood, just a gaping wound, mouth and eyes open. "It's over," Legato whispered.  
  
"Hmm?" Midvalley looked raised his hands and inspected his palms, appearing intrigued even as they began to fade out of existence. Along with him, everything else began to disappear, and whispers of an entire world falling into shadows accompanied the destruction.  
  
~~~~~  
  
When the end had come to pass, Knives found himself, along with Legato, in a void of darkness. He turned to the slighter man, smiling evilly, and said, "How do you feel now?"  
  
"Kni - Master...." Legato hung his head.  
  
Knives fell upon the pitiful human with a series of savage blows and kicks, beating him even after he fell to the ground. Blood smeared across his tan skin, golden eyes clouded in pain, and when Knives felt his foot connect with Legato's rib, hearing a slight crunch, he stopped, satisfied. Breathing heavily, he sat down cross-legged beside the limp slave and grunted. Then, his eyes widened.  
  
Felicity was sitting there, her legs tucked demurely beneath her, and gently, she pulled his head up into her lap, brushing slender digits over his bruised cheeks and letting her fingertip run over his busted lip to gather some of the blood. When his yellow, cat-like eyes opened, glimmering up at her, she smiled, and he returned the gesture.  
  
"Explain - now." Knives didn't like being in the dark, mentally and physically.  
  
"When I found this place," croaked Legato, "Felicity came to me...because I wanted her to..."  
  
"So, you never really had a wife. You had a fictional friend you fantasized to be married to you."  
  
"She's real..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"When I was very young...I loved a woman named Felicity...and she loved me. I wanted to marry her, but we were only sixteen...and she was....walking down the street one day..." He gulped quickly, breathing no longer an easy task. "Some men attacked her... I had to learn of the accident from her family...they hated me and told me only that in a letter. I didn't know if she had lived or not, but when I came here, that man...Damuno, he told me she was still out there. But she was almost dead. She had survived only to become very sick some years later. He said I could bring her here - or at least a part of her - but she'd never be able to speak or to stay with me continually if I didn't bring all of her here. I needed a life source - a powerful one - to make her well and fetch her." Tears streamed down his cheeks. "That's why I brought you here."  
  
Knives stared at him coldly. "How dare you..."  
  
Legato shuddered with the intensity of holding back his sobs. "I just wanted...someone to love me... And when he asked me what I wanted... I said, "What do I want? I want was taken from me! What no one would ever give back! I want love! And I want it in the form of...of...Felicity." He closed his eyes. "And so this part of her was brought to me. But her real self...her body...lies in a hospital somewhere. And now I'll never get to her. I think we're trapped down here."  
  
"Well, I'm not going to accept that." Knives rose and stalked towards a tunnel that he could see in the distance, but no matter how long he walked, or how fast, he never seemed to get any closer to it or farther from Legato. He returned to sitting. "Now what? There has to be a way out."  
  
"Only Felicity can get us out now," muttered Legato. "But that's not happening. I'd have to sacrifice her remaining life energy and I refuse. And don't try to take us by force. You have no power down here."  
  
Knives scowled, preferring to prove otherwise. He tried to lunge at the couple, but found a barrier between them. Worried for the first time, he ran pale fingers through his hair. "What now? Do you just expect to lie here for the rest of your life, no matter how short it may be?"  
  
Legato didn't even feel it was worth his time to answer, just lying an arm across his forehead and drifting off to sleep. Or at least trying.  
  
"Tell me how you got here," commanded Knives.  
  
And Legato, too tired to verbally communicate, touched their minds together. Once again, he felt that familiar feeling of being connected with Knives, soothing and disturbing all at the same time. Without lingering on their past lives together, he let the dream sequence begin, playing out before his old master's eyes.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Thanks for the reviews and for the cookie! LOL I appreciate it a lot. Ok, let's see. Summary time:  
  
Big flashback of how Legato found his 'Eden', Felicity, and love. Knives listens intently and says nothing. Felicity has something to say, but it's very difficult for poor Legato to accept. So much for his trying to turn his life around... 


	4. Something Real

This starts out in a flashback, if you remember the last chapter where Legato was sharing his memories. And oh my...Felicity actually SPEAKS in this chapter!  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Thin lips lifted into a grim smirk as the pale, gaunt man, ugly and tall with eyes that shone dully as if dimming in death, watched his dinner partner begin to cough, demurely behind his hand at first, and then loudly into his fist. A chuckle escaped his brittle throat.  
  
Legato lifted his gaze with a glare, forcing out between fits, "What'd... you..... do...to me?!" He had first suspected something funny when this man, claiming to hire him as an assassin, had insisted on emphasizing on Legato's power and ability to venture into the most dangerous of territory, to play with people's minds until they didn't know up from down, instead of his target.  
  
"There was poison in that drink."  
  
Legato gagged as the foul taste of his beverage rushed back to his mind. How could he have been so stupid?! Rapidly, he swallowed, trying not to vomit and control his pitching stomach. A sudden pain tearing into his heart caused him to clutch at the spot, and then another knife-like sensation in his gut sent him reeling in pain to the floor, his chair tumbling back with him and crashing to the ground. There, quite helpless, he writhed in agony, feeling his mind screaming for some release. Lightening seemed to be exploding behind his eyes while fire burned in his chest.  
  
"Don't worry. It's a slow-working poison. Won't kill you for another three months, but you will have spells like this every now and then. Now, let's talk about what I want."  
  
"I thought...it was an...assassination," Legato groaned, wrapping his fingers around the table edge and trying to heave himself up before failing and falling back with a thump. Now close to tears, he curled into a ball and tried to remember the days where these sensations didn't even phase him.  
  
"No. Now listen very carefully. I've been doing a lot of research and I have reason to believe that there really does exist a kingdom of dead dreams. It's underground - somewhere - and it holds more riches and power than you could ever imagine... But no one will go down there. Anyone who has never returns. All I want from it is one thing. It's a rod of pure gold inlaid with all the precious jewels known to man. If you retrieve it, I will reward you with the antidote to the poison." He threaded his fingers on the table, grinning to reveal crooked teeth. "It's very simple. So, do we have a deal?"  
  
The blue-haired man moaning pitifully on the floor would've liked nothing better than to use his mental tricks to force that man off a cliff at a moment, or at least out the nearest window, but he was too weak, and his vision was fading even as the seconds ticked by. "Yes," he whispered in a muffled voice and then promptly passed out.  
  
~~~~~  
  
The beam of Legato's flashlight swept deftly through the yawning, cavernous hole before him, gleaming on snow and sparking brilliantly against icicles. It was gonna be tough getting down there, but that wasn't going to stop him when he'd come as far as he had - and when the stakes were as high.  
  
Shivering, he turned up the collar of his heavy coat and hunched against the howling wind, golden eyes narrowed to slits as his soft blue hair, laden with frost, brushed over them. Once more, he checked his harness, the rope, and the stake he had driven into the ground, finding them all secure. And then, setting his thin flashlight between his teeth, he clenched his gloved fists around his line and leapt back, gliding down through the icy air until he reached the end of his length, coming to a gentle stop. For a moment, he paused there, took his flashlight in hand to inspect his current surroundings, and then deemed them worthy of continuing. Gently, he pushed off with his heavy boots and began the slow descent down the endless throat of the pit, slipping every now and then, but continuing to fearlessly rappel.  
  
It had been about three years since Vash the Stampede had met him on the cliff that day. The emotional turmoil that churned in his mind back then almost reminded Legato of his own. Almost. Vash was superior - they weren't the same. He had forced the plant to shoot him back then, and as he had lay there, bleeding, smiling, dying, he couldn't help but think.... I'm free.  
  
But he had only been captured again. Someone had 'rescued' him, saved him, and nursed him back to health until he was ready to go back into the world - and grow very bitter. Without his master or the gun-ho guns around, he found himself growing soft and nostalgic, and very lonely. Once or twice his thoughts fleeted to Midvalley, and sometimes to Wolfwood, but more than anyone else they turned to Knives. However, his thoughts weren't as fond as one would expect of the devoted servant. In fact, being out among people, he no longer wanted to be anyone's slave, and he eventually came to the conclusion he was so much better than the plant had let him believe.  
  
News had reached him after about a year and a half of separation that Knives was living with his brother and the insurance girls. Figured.  
  
Legato had now reached the bottom and let his feet touch the slick floor, but did not take his first step with enough caution and his legs shot out from beneath him so that he landed on his back. Growling unintelligibly, he slowly heaved himself up again and proceeded more carefully.  
  
Things were uncomfortable and eerie from the very start, all the sheets of ice coating the walls of the maze of tunnels making a thousand mirrors, each reflecting him in a new and dizzying way. Swinging his light back and forth in astonishment, he turned, glared at his next reflection, and then drew in a sharp breath. Passing through the translucent ice was a woman, her shirt a pristine white turtleneck, her pants a fitted pair of black jeans tucked into her leather, knee high boots. A long, blood red trench coat that touched the floor seemed to be lifted on a nonexistent wind, and as she moved from one pane of ice to the next, her long, dark curls nearly concealing her pale face, she grew and shrunk in size, depending on the height and width of the slate. Absolutely beautiful, thought Legato, his breath still sucked from his lungs, but what was she...? His heart began to pound when something, a flicker or a fragment of a memory, returned to the corner of his mind, but he didn't really grasp it. This woman, this ghost slowly moving past and all around him, not existing except for in the glass, was someone he knew once.  
  
She stopped to look at him, regarding him, or rather something behind him briefly, and then turned away again, seeming to walk back into the recesses of the solid ice. Something told him she hadn't caught sight of him.  
  
Legato took a few moments to contemplate what he was seeing before rushing recklessly forward and slamming his palm flat against the ice, not being able to break through. Only cold hardness. "What the...?" he whispered, feeling a nagging inside, something telling him to get out while he still could. "Blast!" His fist slammed into the ice in defeat. No matter. He'd carry on.  
  
He turned to do so, but came face to face a very impassive, very surreal man, his hair jaggedly cut to fall to broad shoulders, blonde and shining like gold despite the lack of light. "Hello," he said quietly, although Legato only continued to stare. "Welcome to Fairlight."  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Knives pulled away from his servant and scowled, intending to further question the man but only seeing that he would get nowhere, realizing Legato had passed out right about at the end. He glared daggers at the human, wishing he was awake so he could be intimidated once more.  
  
Felicity was like a ghostly presence, never drawing attention, completely silent, but so obviously there. There was a basin of water beside her now (it was getting irritating how things just kept 'magically' showing up) and she dabbed at Legato's cuts and bruises, washing him clean of blood.  
  
Knives busied himself with picking lint off his shirt sleeve, deciding to be perfectly indifferent. For a short while, it kept him entertained, and for an even shorter while it cleared his mind, but he eventually gave up and lay down, his back to the cause of his problems, and ruefully reviewed what had happened. "Maybe I shouldn't have slain the keeper," he muttered, examining his fingernails. "It was kind of like shutting down the system."  
  
He sat up. Looked at Felicity. Just great. Now she had conjured a blanket out of thin air, having removed Legato's shirt, folded it neatly, and laid it on the ground. The warm fleece had been spread carefully over the sleeping man, who now lay turned on his side, one hand palm down on the ground beside his face and the other on Felicity's knee, head still resting in her lap.  
  
She was doing that weird thing...where she looked at him and it was so ANNOYING!  
  
"Woman," he growled, "can't you speak?"  
  
She lowered her gaze for a few seconds and then lifted it abruptly, narrowing her green eyes and seeming to be demanding something.  
  
Knives stared blankly at her. "What? Do you want me to feel sorry for you two?" He snorted. "After what you've put me through, I think you two got what you deserved."  
  
Her fingers, slender and pale, beckoned for her to follow as they drew back the blanket, touching a scar on Legato's shoulder, then his chest, trailing down and displaying the dark markings.  
  
Although his placid mask never slipped, Knives felt a bit astonished on the inside. He'd never really looked closely at Legato. Who would've known that underneath his close, his body was just one big, healed wound?  
  
"Did Legato even tell you anything about me?" he asked harshly, not receiving any indication that he had. "Did he tell you that I loathe humans and that he did too? That I gave him all his power?" Knives frowned. "Well, I did.... I guess I don't hate all humans because...I've lived around them so much that I've almost gotten used to them, and my brother's wife - what an aggravating human - she has a daughter, my niece, and I really do..." He trailed off and then stood up. "Felicity, can you get me out of here? Legato says you can't, but coming from you...?"  
  
No response.  
  
"Ok, you lo...you lov....you LOVE Legato, don't you?" he questioned, finally spitting out the obstinate word. "And you know he can't survive very long down here. If you care for him, I think it'd be safe to say you'd do anything you could to get him (and me) out of here as soon as possible."  
  
Knives could already see Felicity was terribly easy to manipulate, whatever she was, and he smiled to himself when she made her decision, nodding firmly. Later, he might hate himself for this, but that was later. This was now - and he could handle it.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Legato woke up in the sands of familiar planet Gunsmoke. He coughed and sputtered in the dry environment, already dehydrated from lying out in the heat for so long. Achingly, he sat up and rolled his eyes all around, letting things gradually float back to him.  
  
Oh...my...  
  
He sprung up and quietly called her name, not expecting her to answer. No Felicity - anywhere. "I shouldn't have fallen asleep," he whined to the desert, shoulders slumping. "I shouldn't have put anything past that self-centered, egotistical, sadistic jerk!"  
  
There were footprints in the sand, and he began to follow him, but the more he ran, and the more he thought about how the scenario was going to play out, starting with a fantastic fight in rich he could at least grant Knives with a scar to haunt and mar his perfection, and then die, as Knives was no much stronger, the wind began to sound more and more like it was calling his name. And then, it seemed to transform into a human voice, a woman's voice. "Legato...? Legato!"  
  
He stopped and looked all around. "Felicity...?" he murmured wonderingly. It had been so long since he had heard her voice.  
  
"Legato," she was with him now, touching his shoulder. "It's ok... Don't go looking for your death."  
  
"He killed you."  
  
"You know I wasn't really alive there... That wasn't my real self, Legato." She smiled at him, sadly. "I would've had to leave you eventually."  
  
"But you are real!" he said in a strained whisper, merely because he couldn't force out anything louder. "You made my sickness go away, you cured the poison! I could touch you, see you... And I don't want someone else. All my life - "  
  
"All your life, you say you've wanted someone to love you. There will be, Legato. But it has to be real - you have to look for it." She tapped him playfully on the nose. "Just keep living, Legato."  
  
"What about Knives?"  
  
"I can't tell you what to do there."  
  
He pulled her tightly to him, hugging her with his face buried in her shoulder, remaining so for a few seconds before relinquishing his hold on her. "I have to get going before he gets too far ahead of me," Legato explained, leaning in to kiss her but turning his head at the last moment and pulling regretfully away. It really was time to let go.  
  
Without looking back, he started forward, not knowing if she was still standing there, watching him, or if she had disappeared. All he knew was that by the time he had gotten a decent distance away, he felt quite certain that she was gone and that Knives was just on the horizon.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
So.....what'd you think?? Thanks for all the reviews. This story probably won't be much longer, just a few more chapters...I really don't know. Ok, summary:  
  
Legato and Knives' confrontation, a little bit of Meryl, lit bit of Vash...and Legato figures out how to hold on to the real Felicity, if only for a few more days.  
  
------Shangri-La 


	5. That I might recall

Whew...I've been dead for such a long time!! I guess it's just school work and snow boarding and hanging out with my friends and all! Plus, my English teacher wants me to enter some writing contests to try to get published, but all the stupid entries have to be boring stuff about emotions and crap. I mean, I'm an original fantasy writer - I suck at Fanfiction, but I write it anyhow cuz I like reviews. *grumbles* Not like anyone reads and reviews this anyway.... Ok! On with the story!  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Vash the Stampede." Legato's dull golden eyes had lost their shine, were as dead as they had been when he had served Knives. And now, as he fixed them upon the buttercup-haired brother of the man he was hunting, his strange accent grew thicker, and melodious voice, deeper.  
  
Vash returned the gaze in obvious surprise. One moment, he's sitting in his little garden (which he had been desperately coaxing into life for years now), and the next, a supposedly dead man walks up and starts staring at him. It was disturbing.  
  
"Where's Knives?" Legato looked dully around, not really interested in his surroundings. "I have to talk to him."  
  
"Legato.am I.imagining this?" Vash raised a hand to shield his green eyes from the sun, squinting at the blue-haired man. "I killed you.how can you be here?"  
  
Legato sighed and patiently repeated, "Where is Knives?"  
  
"He's in the house, but."  
  
"Thank you." Briskly, Legato breezed by, reminding himself that his former master's twin had always been a little slow. ...or so he had thought. It was hard to know what anyone was anymore, what with his ideals being completely converted. Pushing open the door and stepping into the tidy kitchen, his gaze swept upon Meryl (he vaguely remembered her), and then he strode past, flinching slightly when her scream pierced the air. Why did women have to be so noisy?  
  
The next room he came to seemed to be some sort of living room, and it was a very lucky thing for him that Knives was found asleep on the couch there. At least he didn't have to look far. Clutched in the greedy man's hand was a golden scepter, which he had pulled somehow from the dream land. Legato thought a proper awakening for him would be to snatch away that delicate piece of finery and snap it over his knee, which was the course of action he took. Startled, Knives jerked awake.  
  
"What the heck are you doing?" he demanded, scowling at the psychopath before him, eyeing the broken pieces of the staff clutched in his hands. "How dare you - "  
  
"How dare you," interrupted Legato, "take this from me. This scepter is the only reason I went in there - I was to retrieve it. The worth is - well, was - indescribable. Here, all yours now." And he tossed the pieces carelessly at the plant's feet. Now it was his turn to scowl. "I just wanted to make sure you didn't get away with that part of my life."  
  
Knives didn't know what to say in reply, and he didn't have to conjure anything up, for at that moment, Vash slid into the room and frantically tried to calm everyone down. Once he was convinced there would be no bloodshed, he curtly invited Legato to stay for dinner, and much to his surprise, the man nodded and answered, "That would be nice." However, he never stopped glaring at Knives.  
  
And so, they ate dinner together. Meryl was white as a ghost, Knives was as silent as one, and Legato was as spooky. Vash talked up a storm and eventually coaxed Legato to tell his tale. And he did so. Quite rapidly.  
  
"I somehow survived and moved on to being an assassin, but one of my employers poisoned me and promised to exchange the antidote for a golden scepter from ancient times. I found it in the dream kingdom and imagined up my own little world where I had friends and a wife. Of course, my wife was real, just somehow departed from her real body, so I only had a part of her - the soul, so to speak - and I planned on using Knives' life energy to restore her, but he shattered the dream and took off. I followed. And here I am. This meat is a little dry, by the way."  
  
Meryl frowned.  
  
Knives rolled his eyes.  
  
Vash smiled pleasantly. "Legato, do you have anywhere to stay?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then why don't you stay here? I'd love to talk to you some more." Ah yes. Good old Vash. Always killing himself with kindness.  
  
Legato nodded faintly and continued to eat.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Meryl had said absolutely nothing the whole night and resolved to keep it that way, locking herself away in her bedroom and making sure to barricade the door so that Vash had no hopes of getting in. If her husband was so determined to assure their deaths by keeping a psychopath in the house overnight, he was going to brave it all alone.  
  
Knives reacted much the same as Meryl.  
  
And then there was Vash. "It looks like I've been banished from the family," he cheerily told Legato, "but that doesn't really interfere with my plans, so I guess I can't complain. Hey, from what I've heard, you like junk food, right?"  
  
"Yes," was the dull answer.  
  
"Well, how do you feel about donuts?"  
  
"I'm more of a hot-dog person."  
  
"Aw, just try 'em. You'll like them." Solemnly, he raised a hand and added, "After all, donuts make the world go round."  
  
After Vash had gathered up two boxes of glazed donuts and motioned for Legato to follow him outside, he took a seat on the porch swing and patted the seat beside him, inviting, "Sit on down."  
  
Legato did as asked, although quite hesitantly. "You're much more easy to deal with than your brother," he said softly, gingerly taking a donut between his fingers and licking experimentally at the icing. "I used to treat Knives like he was all there was in the world. Now I wonder why I just couldn't see that the abuse and frustration was spawned not from a superior being, but a very violent mind. To think...I had power back then. It makes me wonder why I felt so powerless."  
  
Vash gazed at the younger man sympathetically. "Legato, what exactly has brought you here?"  
  
Legato began to slowly recount his tale, and this time in greater detail. He started at the very beginning - his childhood - and went on to tale of his early relationship with Felicity, her supposed death, and then his meeting of Knives. His golden eyes shone with unshed tears when he spoke of the death of the gun-ho guns and how Knives would beat him mercilessly. And by the time he had finished, it was nearly three in the morning and Vash himself looked to be near crying, a guilty expression on his face. He didn't like seeing anyone in pain, and just the fact that his brother had been the root of the problem made him feel slightly responsible.  
  
"Legato, you said the real Felicity is out there, somewhere." He peered curiously at the blue-haired man lounging across the opposite end of the porch swing, chin dropped to his chest in exhaustion. "Why don't you try to find her?"  
  
"I am," was the guttural reply. "Just don't know where to start."  
  
"Well...you know where I think would be a good place to start looking?"  
  
Sleepily, Legato's head rose and life and emotion stirred within his golden orbs. "Where?"  
  
"I'll take you there tomorrow."  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Knives, be more gentle!" scolded Meryl, anxiously watching with hands on slender hips as the blonde plant carelessly tucked her daughter beneath his arm, leaving his other hand free to shovel cereal into his mouth.  
  
Meryl's daughter, Charity, didn't seem to mind in the very least though. In fact, the small, dark-haired toddler was hanging quite contentedly over her uncle's arm, appendages dangling.  
  
"She enjoys it," insisted Knives flatly. He pushed another enormous amount of cereal into his mouth and chewed three times before swallowing, which resulted in his near choking. Of course he had always been warned this would happen one day, and not wanting to prove everyone right, the stubborn plant, wide-eyed, pounded on his chest heartily until the lump in his throat became unstuck. Then, at of the corner of his eye, he glanced to the left to see if Meryl had noticed. She hadn't, having been too busy washing dishes.  
  
"We're home!" called out Vash happily, and the sound of a door slamming followed shortly after.  
  
Legato shuffled quietly into the kitchen with his head bowed, only glancing up occasionally from beneath his bangs. Briefly, he laid his attention on Knives, and then smiled at Meryl. "You're being very kind," he said softly. "But I'll be out of your hair shortly."  
  
Meryl pressed her lips together in a thin line, but nodded as graciously as she could at the moment.  
  
Legato then quietly excused himself for a nap, murmuring the plausible apology that he had not slept at all during the night.  
  
Knives, who had determined not to acknowledge the other man's presence, broke this vow and turned to his brother with a flat expression, not at all realizing that his eyes were tortured with curiosity. "So.where'd you two disappear to last night?"  
  
Vash took his sweet time answering, pulling out a chair at the table and relieving his brother of Charity, settling the toddler in his lap. "We talked all night about Felicity," Vash said softly, running his fingers through his daughter's fine hair. When she giggled, his lips curved into a soft smile. "He said that she was really out there somewhere, but unreachable all the same. So, we went to go find her."  
  
"And you actually did?"  
  
"Well, it took a lot of phone calls, and a two hour trip, but we finally did find her."  
  
"And where, pray tell?"  
  
Vash grimaced at his twin. "I would tell you...if I really thought you cared."  
  
"Hn." And with a look that said, 'Fine, be that way,' he went back to eating, only to find his cereal had gone soggy. With yet another grimace, he pushed away the bowl, rose to his feet, and ambled off down the hall. Already he couldn't even sense Legato's thoughts or movements, and that frustrated him greatly. "Freak," he hissed venomously, referring to the blue-haired psychopath.  
  
Stalking into his room, he flopped down on the bed and buried his face in the pillows to fume. Instead, he fell asleep.  
  
Ironically, he dreamed of golden eyes piercing into his mind, boring through his soul. He saw crimson blood in blue hair and felt his hands running mockingly through the silky strands as berating whispers fell from his lips. Visions of a broken figure lying at his feet, coughing and gasping, wounds gaping, floated through his mind, and one by one, he saw the gun-ho guns, some lingering longer than others.  
  
Golden, metallic notes.  
  
Pink.  
  
Black.  
  
Brown.  
  
Smile.  
  
Midvalley...?  
  
Midvalley's hands sifting through the blood and repairing the wounds that branded Legato, soothing away the pain and reassuring quietly.  
  
So that's why he had been in the dream world...  
  
And then Knives saw his brother pointing the gun at Legato's head on the cliff, saw how both trembled with fear and anxiety. When Vash's finger looked ready to pull the trigger that would end Legato's life, he saw the way the blue-haired man ducked his head ever so slightly and then brought it up a fraction of a second later, his eternal frown changed into a heart- wrenching smile. So sad....so accepting of his fate.  
  
And then the gunshot...  
  
Knives woke in a cold sweat, clutching at his covers in desperation. The breath rushed from him in a panicked gasp. The gunshot...it had sounded so real...but it wasn't, right?  
  
"LEGATO!"  
  
Knives froze, recognizing the panic-stricken voice as his brother's. And it was real. Too real to ever deny.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"What's going on?!"  
  
"Meryl! Get back in the house!"  
  
Biting her lower lip, Meryl hesitantly did as commanded, backing into the doorway and remaining there. Before her, a very odd scene was playing out. She didn't know how it had come about, but she did know that when she had heard that gun firing, she had immediately rushed outside to investigate, Vash surpassing her in moments and bursting outside ahead of her. What they found was Legato standing in the front yard, facing the house with his hands raised harmlessly in the air, the sign that he had given up and held no weapons. A slightly taller man with a build defined by formidable muscle, his thick, black hair slicked back, stood behind the defeated man, a gun pressed to the back of Legato's skull.  
  
"Why are you doing this?" demanded Vash, slowly deliberately, his green eyes narrowing with suspicion, with fear and anger.  
  
"Mr. Bluesummers was hired to retrieve an item, and in addition to his up- front payment, he was given nine thousand dollars in supplies and transportation." The man who held the gun to Legato's head was completely deadpan, his expression near matching Legato's, who, at the moment, had closed his eyes with a grim frown. "His contract stated that he would either carry out his mission or die paying for it."  
  
Vash clenched his jaw tightly, knowing that all reasoning possibilities had just flown out the window.  
  
Then, silent as a shadow, Knives moved smoothly past the terrified Meryl and directly behind Vash, not even letting his brother sense his presence. Or at least not until the man who held Legato's life in his hands began to twitch spasmodically with a look of utter shock.  
  
Vash glanced over his shoulder at Knives, whose blue eyes were narrowed to mere slits, lips twisted in the most sadistic of smiles. Fury enveloped him, radiated from him, the fingers of his left hand curving and trembling before clenching into a tight fist.  
  
And then the man began to choke back screams, stepping away from Legato, who remained in his neutral pose. His arm twisted unnaturally to the side, cracking as it was forced to twist to the point where the joints and bones snapped. He cried out, fell to the ground, and lay there, writhing in immense pain, not comprehending what was happening.  
  
Legato's golden orbs opened and slid towards Knives in surprise, focusing on the plant with nothing but questions in his mind. Why...why would he do that for him?  
  
Knives turned and shoved past Meryl into the house.  
  
Gingerly, Legato began to follow, taking one shocked step after another with a contemplative frown. He hadn't gotten very far when Vash turned around to smile at him, but ended up gawking in horror, screaming his name in alarm.  
  
Legato whirled around but it was too late. He could only watch as the fallen man jerked back on the trigger and a bullet screamed fast in an invisible run, traveling too fast for him to do anything but gasp. Pain exploded in his left shoulder, red blood splashing across the sand as he crumpled to the ground. Dark patches bloomed on his navy blue turtleneck and he groaned, faintly feeling Vash's gentle hands rolling him onto his back, holding his face, calling out for him to answer. Shortly after, however, he realized Vash had been pushed aside and a new pair of arms was lifting him up, carrying him hurriedly inside.  
  
Knives.  
  
He clenched his teeth and then let his head roll back over his former master's arm, still feeling the blood soak through his shirt. How could he have not seen this coming...? He had stupidly let his guard down. And now, he was paying for it, he thought, pressing a hand firmly to his wound.  
  
  
  
"I can't believe this," Knives muttered, gazing down into Legato's pained face. "How could you have not realized this was coming?"  
  
"I'm sorry," he whispered in reply. "I didn't..." He trailed off, not sure why he was apologizing. Aw, forget it, he thought, just pass out. Just allow yourself to do it this once - to be selfish and tend to your own needs.  
  
And he did.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
There! Only one more chapter left! Happiness! See? I can finish a story. Anyhow, I am so happy cuz my friend just got me a Legolas poster - I just love Orlando Bloom! Chapter summary:  
  
Uhh...Knives angsting (sorta) and...Legato dreams and Vash reassurances and even a letter! Gosh, I'm surprised I'm even finishing this. It's such a piece of crap. No one even reviews *pouts* I don't blame them. I just can't write fanfiction. I only do good original stuff. Oh well. I'm determined to get better.  
  
FOR THE LOVE OF HUMANITY PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!  
  
Legato: *glares* The love of...humanity?  
  
Shangri-La: Aw! Come on! I changed you for this story! Anyhow people, just tell me anything. Suggestions or compliments or whatever...I just like to know someone is paying me attention. Do I sound childish? Right now, I'm too tired to care...  
  
____ Shangri-La 


	6. All things must end

Hey! I feel so loved! Thanx a ton Deadly Beauty! You are SOOO wonderful! Your words are truly inspiring, especially from such a talented writer. VERY SPECIAL thanx to Chibi Alucard!! It's fun being in someone's fave author section. Also, thanx to Mirkana Falcon as well!! Now, onto the last chapter!  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Lie him down on the bed," commanded Vash harshly, yanking back the covers and stepping away that Knives might have room to move forward with the limp man in his arms.  
  
For once, Knives listened to his brother. He spread Legato's unconscious figure out on the pristine white sheets and backed away, preferring not to dip his self-righteous fingers in the blood that was flowing fast and furious from the injury. He watched with iced over eyes as Meryl hovered behind her husband, trying to help in whatever way she could by rolling up Legato's shirt to reveal an expanse of tanned flesh, tight abdomen, and then gingerly pulling his arms out of the sleeves, which was no easy task. It was especially hard when you took into consideration how squeamish she had become all the sudden, the tightness of the shirt, and the way he moaned in agony each time she jarred him too much. In the end, however, the material was discarded to the corner of the room and he was still asleep.  
  
Vash, who had fetched a first-aid kit, now took his position at Legato's side and began to deftly clean and stitch the wound with strong, efficient strokes. He had nearly forgotten Knives' presence when the blonde man spoke in such a low, dark voice that it was nearly inaudible.  
  
"Shouldn't we wake him up? He hit his head when he went down..."  
  
"No. Let's let him sleep until we are done stitching. I can't have him struggling." Vash's voice was short, something unusual for him. As he continued to mend the wound though, Legato's head jerked to the side thrice, his left hand twitching insanely as he whimpered.  
  
Meryl clutched at Knives' arm, realized who he was, pulled away, and then gasped, "What if he's having a seizure?!"  
  
The trio froze, watching with dilated eyes until the cause of their concern fell silent once more, not moving save for the shallow breathing that rose his chest.  
  
Vash sighed and then hurriedly finished the job, tightly wrapping bandages about the wound before stepping back and wiping an arm across his sweaty brow. "I think he should be ok now. But do we really have to wake him up?"  
  
Knives closed his eyes in a moment of contemplation before shaking his head serenely. "I suppose he'll be fine and would not appreciate us awakening him. It would make sense for him to need rest."  
  
"Alright." Vash nodded. "We'll let him sleep."  
  
And one by one, they filed out of the room.  
  
~~~~~  
  
It was a guilty creature that slunk back into Legato's room that night, a pale-faced plant that found his stomach in knots. He slid up to the bed in a hesitant fashion and then paused, looking thoughtfully at the blue-haired human's face, reposed in sleep, the flickering shadows playing and combating with the moonlight over his surreal features.  
  
Knives wondered if he was dreaming about Felicity.  
  
He hesitantly pulled back the covers and squinted in the dark, nearly appalled by the sight of scars that greeted him. It really was difficult for him to look, knowing that they were completely horrendous as well as his doing. But, just like in the cave with Felicity, something was compelling him to look, to observe the damage he had done - like a sick curiosity.  
  
His fingers trembled as they brushed over a scar across Legato's shoulder, feeling the skin terribly rough beneath his touch, which soon wandered down to the well-muscled torso, navigating by the twisting marks of wounds past healed.  
  
Underneath his hand, Legato shivered, but did not stir otherwise.  
  
Knives withdrew his hand with a blush, feeling as if he had just done something terribly intimate with the peaceful Legato and feeling a bit guilty for it. He wasn't interested in Legato like THAT, so why was he doing these things?  
  
Because, in the past, he had done those things. Those things to bring the rise of the scars.  
  
So, here was the question. Was he ashamed of his actions, both past and present? Here was the answer: a little. Ok, maybe more than that. Alright, a lot more than he liked to admit. He dropped his head and massaged his temples gently, his jaw clenching against the onslaught of guilty confessions that rushed to mind all of the sudden.  
  
"Legato," he said quietly, "I still hate all the people that have ever hurt me. And I still resent humanity for breeding those who might bring me pain again. But you...you never harmed me. Ever. And I still hated you. I really should...I mean, I sort of want to...ok, I need to tell you..." He sighed. "I regret that, Legato. I'm sorry. You're very strong - I should respect you for that. I just hope that I haven't destroyed things for you. I feel like people have destroyed things for me. And I don't think there will ever be an Eden within my grasp. Good luck finding yours."  
  
Nothing changed in the darkened room that night, as far as Knives was concerned for the moment. The scars didn't disappear or melt off Legato's skin; he didn't wake up and feel miraculously better; and Knives' life did not alter in the way that an Eden appeared on the horizon. However, as he gazed down at the sleeping human, he did feel more at peace.  
  
~~~~~  
  
The next morning, Vash shook Meryl awake and sleepily mumbled something in regards to breakfast and making sure Knives didn't attempt it himself again. Although highly displeased at the early awakening, she promised to get up in a few moments if he gave her a kiss and let her lie still a few more minutes so that she could adjust to the feeling of being awake.  
  
"Alright, but you have to promise," he consented, pressing his lips to hers a few brief moments before pulling away and rolling over to set the alarm clock for ten minutes, setting it next to her head, which kept her just enough awake from being wary of the ringing that might explode in her ears.  
  
Pulling on a shirt (it always seemed to disgust his brother when his scars were in plain sight), he hurried to check on Charity, who was still asleep, and then on Legato. But he wasn't there. Vash did a double-take in the doorway to the room, staring at the empty, disheveled bed. Perhaps Legato had risen already and was with Knives...?  
  
He walked to the breakfast table and found Knives all alone, his expression highly contemplative as he poured all of his attention into a piece of paper that was creased from being folded thrice, eyes skimming over words hurriedly.  
  
"He left, huh?" Vash murmured, trying to smile through his disappointment.  
  
"Yeah..." Knives tossed the letter to his brother, inviting, "You can read, if you like."  
  
Curiously, Vash accepted the invitation, cautiously glancing over his twin before beginning to read aloud.  
  
"Knives. It's strange to call you that now. When I go to speak your name, my mouth automatically forms the word 'Master'. But you are not my master - no one is. As Midvalley once said, 'He can take your body and abuse it, but he'll never be able to utilize your soul and use it.' And my soul is elusive, free, something that no man on this planet will ever be able to tie down with temporary bonds. Although you tried, however, I will not hold it against you. Never."  
  
As Vash continued to read, Knives thoughtfully pondered over where Legato currently was and found his mind wandering away so that his brother's voice faded completely into the distance, and Legato's dark, deliciously melodious voice took over, speaking his own words.  
  
"I went to visit Felicity. Vash found her for me in a little hospital nearly four hours from here. She's been in a comatose stage for years now, which explains how I could've had her soul with me. Her body just wasn't capable of use, but her mind was still rapidly working. And Fairlight brought whatever part of her to me that it could. I'm not sure if you would understand Knives...what it is like to realize you've wasted so much of your already short life fooling yourself, telling yourself you're not worth anything. That's simply not true. Everybody is worth something...even me."  
  
Knives closed his eyes, finding the mental link with Legato now open and inviting, letting him know that he was not feared, nor hated. Through his old acquaintance's mind, he saw the blue-haired man, wearing one of Vash's shirts with the red trench coat hanging casually over his shoulders (he obviously had not even attempted to work his arms into the sleeves), a bouquet in one hand, entering into a hospital room, smiling wanly at the female figure that lay deathly still in the bed. Felicity, no doubt, although looking much shabbier and not near as pretty or at all in good health, like she had in the dream world. Nevertheless, Legato's heart was soaring at the sight of her, and he sat down slowly at the bedside, watching with an intent gaze as her heartbeats, monitored on a nearby screen, came at a dangerously slow rate.  
  
"They've warned me she won't last long..."  
  
Knives' blue eyes slid shut in something akin to pain as he saw Legato's crestfallen expression when the heartbeats stopped altogether, giving way to a long steady beep. It was just a moment, however, before he regained his slight smile, placing the flowers in her palm and curving in her fingers about them. His lips moved in an inaudible whisper.  
  
"I don't care though. She taught me more than I'll ever know, and if I can only spend a little time with her, I'm satisfied. So, make sure Vash knows how great my gratitude is, and tell Meryl I appreciate her patience. Live your life, Knives; watch your niece grow into a beautiful woman; try to enjoy the company of others."  
  
And Knives saw tears running down Legato's face and drip into the creases of his smiling lips, golden eyes aglow with pain and joy.  
  
"Don't worry about me, however. I will...survive."  
  
~~~~~  
  
The end! Tada! I'm in a very good mood now cuz not only is this finished, but I just got on a wonderful website ( Kaaza.com ) and downloaded a ton of songs from Cowboy Bebop and even Simple and Clean from Kingdom Hearts. Isn't Riku just fabulous?? Haha. Anyhow, tell me what you think! I love Legato, so I dunno why I had to go and torture him so!! Was it too sad? Just right? Did you like?? I wanna know! REVIEW!!! 


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